During Q2 2015 50% of Smartphones Were Larger than 5-inches

The Galaxy Note 5 is the latest in a long of large devices from Samsung and it would appear that popularity for larger devices is only growing. According to new data from GfK, almost half – about 48% – of smartphone sold during Q2 2015 featured displays larger than 5-inches in size. The new research also shows that compared to Q2 2015, global smartphone shipments have increased by 6%, which is a modest increase, but an increase nonetheless, rather than the poor sales that tablets are enjoying. Moreover, shipments of devices that support 4G more than doubled year-over-year.

The new info comes as part of new information from GfK, a firm that studies end-user sales rather than simple shipments, and using this metric alone can paint an interesting picture of today’s smartphone market. For one, it would appear that China’s meteoric growth has come to an end, with sales for Q2 2015 falling by around 10% from 98.6% last year to 88.7% this year. This is perhaps due to the fact that devices from last year just don’t feel old in the face of 2015 models, among other things. India however, seems to be a market where all the growth is happening, as Kevin Walsh, director of trends and forecasting for GfK says that “India is expected to be the largest contributor of absolute smartphone unit growth globally this year. The main reason behind this is the currently low smartphone penetration in the market together with a significant intensification of competition.” For Chinese giants like Xiaomi, India has recently become the de facto market for growth, and with competition only getting fiercer, we’d expect this to continue.

Closer to home and growth in North America appears to be strong with sales increasing from 40.3 Million to 44.4 Million and in Europe, sales have increased by just 3%, but an increase of any size is positive in this sort of market. Altogether, sales during Q2 of 2015 totalled 302.1 Million units, an increase of 5% from 288.3 Million units the year before. This isn’t massive growth by any stretch of the imagination, but considering the tablet market seems to be faltering, any sort of growth is tone appreciated. All the figures and analysis can be found below at the source link.